Peacekeeping

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT PEACEKEEPING - PAGE 2

Ted Turner is not your typical billionaire. For one thing, he's married to Jane Fonda. He owns the Atlanta Braves, one of the most successful baseball teams of the 1990s. And, by the way, he's pledged to give $1 billion to the United Nations. Turner's gift may be the single largest charitable donation in history. By any measure, it is an almost mind-boggling display of generosity. Turner is a maverick, and he reinforces that reputation by choosing the United Nations to be the recipient of this gift.

More boaters will ruin Milford Haven My wife and I have for many years enjoyed visiting Mathews County by car and boat. Its attractions are many, including tranquility and beauty. We fear that this idyllic scene is about to change. We were surprised to read in the Daily Press of the proposed expansion (tripling) of Gwynn's Island Boatel on Milford Haven ("Boat storage facility debate hits rough water," June 17), and then we were shocked to read that this proposal is being seriously considered.

The selling of the Clinton administration's Bosnia plan continued Tuesday in Hampton. "It is critically important that we do this," Deputy Defense Secretary John P. White said of the U.S. commitment to send 20,000 troops to help maintain peace in Bosnia once the three warring Balkan factions sign the peace agreement in Paris Dec. 14. "We have an opportunity here. And it's an opportunity that we ought to seize." White spoke to reporters and the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce during a luncheon at a Hampton hotel following a meeting with Air Combat Command officials at Langley Air Force Base.

The George Washington's fliers have patrolled Bosnia's skies. Now, they're probably going back. But this time, they say, it could be a much more intimidating task. "When you have your troops in there, it just ups the ante a lot more," said Lt. Eric Price, an F/A-18 Hornet pilot with Strike Fighter Squadron 31 out of Cecil Field, Fla. "You want to make sure, no kidding, you know that's the target you're after." If all goes well after the Bosnia peace plan is signed next Thursday in Paris, Price and his fellow pilots will never have to worry about hitting the wrong targets.

Julian B. Trimmel, the elderly man shot dead Monday in Gloucester while he was firing a .38 at a lawyer, was a peacekeeper, at least according to his letters to the editor. "My longtime belief," he wrote in a letter published Jan. 29 in the Daily Press, "is if we could get some good news published, this would be an influence to help our young people to make up their mind to protect the world, instead of trying to destroy our world." In one published Jan. 3, 1993, he said, "There are many good black men who serve as decent role models, but their efforts are overwhelmed by some of the bad press and poor representation at law that they receive.

An initial investigation into wide sexual exploitation and abuse of Congolese women and girls by U.N. peacekeepers and officials has resulted in punishment for only a few U.N. personnel, according to an internal U.N. report released Friday. Many of the allegations are difficult to prove, and the United Nations is powerless to discipline perpetrators itself, so the abuse continues -- despite sensitivity training for troops and multiple investigations, it read. "In our view, the problem was, and continues to be, widespread," said Barbara Dixon of the U.N.'s internal oversight office, one of the authors of the report.

It was about a year ago that senior decision makers at the United Nations put in a call to Harvey Langholtz. Langholtz was in his second year as an assistant professor of psychology at the College of William and Mary. He recently had spent two years, from 1991 to 1993, as a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations. In 1994, U.N. officials realized they had no standard course to train an ever-increasing number of peacekeepers in U.N. procedures - and they wanted Langholtz to help.

The wire article did not come over on computer transfer. It may be viewed on microfilm. Following is the locally related box: AIRCRAFT U.S. aircraft involved: Fifteen aircraft at Aviano Air Base in Italy; six Navy bombers or attack jets from the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt; two gun ships at Brindisi Air Base in Italy; four tankers at Sicily or Italy.

It was cold enough on the flight deck of the USS George Washington Thursday morning to make one's teeth chatter. The icy breeze, however, didn't seem to slow the small army of crew members topside busily towing crates and adjusting jet catapults in preparation for today's departure for the Mediterranean Sea. Down on the pier, tall cranes lifted last-minute supplies onto the carrier's hangar deck. Sailors hurried toward their cars to begin a final precious day of liberty. "We're ready," said Rear Adm. Hank Giffin, the Washington Battle Group's commander.